Degrees
by cmoreno100
Summary: Ronny Drake lies in a hospital bed, fighting for his life after a brutal beating. Who did this to him, and what does it have to do with Bobby Drake? Iceman must find out before it's too late. Set after X3.
1. Reunions

Degrees

_Based on X-men: The Last Stand and X-men comics universe_

_Warning: Major spoilers for X-men 3!_

_Disclaimer: Iceman and other X-men characters are owned and copyright of Marvel and 20th Century Fox. They are being used here for non-profit entertainment only._

_Part One: Reunions_

The only sound in Ronny Drake's hospital room was the constant beeping of the monitor. The doctors told his parents that his chances of survival were 50/50. His mother could barely look at him. His face was grotesquely disfigured. According to the police, he was found unconscious in a dark alley. Somebody had beaten him to within a few inches of death. Madeline wept, while Mr. Drake looked on stoically, willing his son to find his way back. Suddenly, Ronny moved ever so slightly. He painfully opened his eyes.

"Ronny!" his mother screamed. She stood by his bed while her husband Steven ran to get a doctor.

"…mom?..." Ronny managed to say weakly

"Oh Ronny, we were so worried! Oh baby, please don't leave me too."

"…mom…I need to…I need to talk to him…"

"Him? Who, Ronny?"

"…Bobby…I need to talk to Bobby…"

* * *

Bobby Drake stood in front of the tombstones. He looked around to see if anybody was near. Satisfied that he was alone, he sat down on the grass.

"I'm sorry I have not come by in a while. Things have been so busy lately…We all miss you a lot, all of you…I miss you." He stared at the three names: "Charles Xavier", "Scott Summers", "Jean Grey".

"Storm has been great; she has taken over the whole operation. She is a natural leader for sure. For a while she was worried about finances, but Warren's Dad apparently had a change of heart and made a "highly generous donation", according to her."

Bobby sighed. He wished such a change of heart would become a reality in his family too, but he was not holding his breath.

"Rogue and I are good. She decided to stay even though she's not a mutant anymore. We are teachers now, to the youngest kids. It's pretty cool…You know, sometimes when she touches me, I feel a tingle…I don't know how to describe it…it's like a very small residue of her power is still latent inside of her. I don't tell her, of course. I don't want to upset her."

"What else? Oh, Logan ran off again, apparently his memories are starting to come back and he just said he had to check some things out. I dunno. Although, I'm sure any day he'll be back. Boy, sometimes he looks at me like he's Rogue's Dad or something, like saying with his eyes "you mess with Rogue and I'll slash you into crushed ice". If he only knew what we…oh, sorry, you probably don't want to hear about that either."

Just then, Peter came running from inside the mansion.

"There you are. You better hurry inside, there's a phone call for you. They say it's urgent."

"Who is it?"

Peter hesitated.

"She says she's your mother."

* * *

The next day, Bobby Drake sat silently next to his brother's hospital bed. He had a cold reception from his parents, all very matter-of-fact, no emotion. They told him about how the police found Ronny, about Ronny waking up and asking to see Bobby, and how he succumbed back into the dark. He had not woken up since.

Bobby's parents had taken an hour to get something to eat.

"Who did this to you, Ronny?" Bobby thought out loud. "And why did you want to talk to me…after what you did?" Bobby's anger towards his brother, which had simmered within him for so long, was squashed the instant he saw in what bad shape Ronny was. "I guess hate, like everything else, comes in degrees", thought Bobby. No matter what his brother had done, he never wished something like this for him.

"Bobby…?" Ronny slowly opened his eyes.

"Ronny! Let me call the doctors quickly."

"No…wait….Bobby…I didn't tell them…."

"Tell who what, Ronny?"

"They kept hitting me and they kept asking,… but I didn't tell them…about you..."


	2. Ronny

**Degrees**

_Based on X-men movies and comics universe_

_Disclaimer: Iceman and other X-men characters are owned and copyright of Marvel and 20th Century Fox. They are being used here for non-profit entertainment only._

_Part Two: Ronny_

I try to catch my breath, but all I do is spit blood. I manage to push myself up on my hands and knees, only to receive another kick in the stomach. I crash down again, tasting dust and concrete... My name is Ronny Drake, and right now, I'm getting my ass kicked. But I guess I should back up some.

I just started college, majoring in political science. I'm also an activist for human rights. One of the first things I did at the university was join the Human League. That is how I found out about the secret meeting of the Friends of Humanity. The FoH is a clandestine group that fights for human rights. Their founder, who we only knew as "The Leader" was going to conduct a secret rally. I had only heard rumors about the FoH and The Leader, so I was more than intrigued to see what they were about.

I arrived at the abandoned building and knocked on the door. I told the guy the secret password, and was in. The meeting was…interesting. The Leader introduced himself as Graydon Creed. He went on and on about how mutants were endangering our future. He brought up Magneto several times, reminding us all how close we came to extinction after "The Incident" a few years back. Then he attacked the government for not having the courage to implement the obvious solution: using the mutant cure on ALL mutants, forcibly if necessary. The mutants that did not want to take the cure, he said, were doing so because they were hell-bent on taking over the world. I nodded for most of the talk, but that little bit at the end was a little "over the top", I thought. Nevertheless, I decided to stick around and talk to as many of the FoH as I could. I guess time flew by, and I found myself to be one of the last ones there. There was only one man that I had yet to meet, and I was not leaving until I did.

One of the men there said the Leader was in the back, but he was not taking any visitors. I started going on and on about how I _had_ to meet him. I suppose he got tired of my whining, so he let me pass. This part of the building was dark, and I walked towards the only room with light. Before I could knock on the half-open door, I heard voices inside. I don't know why, but I just stood behind the door and listened.

"…so this woman, what's her name, Raven? How do we know she will not double-cross us?"

"Her situation is dire, Graydon. Her sentence is life in prison, and without her powers, her chances of escape are less than zero. Our agent indicates that she is willing to give us the information we seek if we can…arrange her departure from prison."

"How much information? All of it?"

"It looks like that depends on how much we can pay her afterwards."

"Money is no object, Jeremy. I want to know everything: the whole layout of the school, their secret areas, their defense capabilities, the brand of cereal they eat in the morning. Everything."

"I understand, sir. I assume you want our experts ready to dissect the information and find a way to destroy these X-men."

"I don't want to destroy the X-men, Jeremy. I want to destroy their whole damn school."

"Uhhh…Graydon, the children, their students, they live on the grounds…I suppose we can place a bomb during a school break or something…"

"…you pathetic little coward…don't you understand? My war is not against the X-men, it's against the whole idea of mutants! The whole concept of a school for mutants…it's repulsive! Immoral! If mutants are allowed to live, they WILL be our extinction. Ask yourself, did Magneto stop to think about all our human children before he tried to annihilate our whole existence? No he didn't, and you know why? He understood this is war, as do I. Jeremy, the only good mutant is a dead mutant. So don't you wimp out on me. We are going to wipe out the Xavier mansion from the face of the Earth, and all the filthy mutants that live in it!"

A low gasp escaped my lips involuntarily at that point.

"…who's there?"

Oh shit, I thought. I ran as fast as I could, not knowing where I was going. I heard voices behind me. I went up a dark set of stairs, until I reached a hallway full of doors. The room closest to me turned out to be an abandoned file room. Crouching behind some old file cabinets, I lay as quietly as I could, waiting for the inevitable…

They say that before you die, you see your whole life pass before your eyes. They say you can see your past mistakes, your errors and triumphs. Sitting there in the dark for what seemed like an eternity, I had plenty of time to do just that.

It hit me like a train, the whole reason why I was so anti-mutant. It was not a desire to "cleanse our world". No, it was about Bobby. Always was. To be fair, I had some anti-mutant feelings before that horrible day when Bobby brought his friends home…I'd seen the articles describing how these mutants were destined to inherit the Earth. How was I supposed to feel, knowing no matter how hard I worked at things, no matter what I did, I was no match for them? The point was brought home when that mutant kid in school used his power to sucker-punch me one time…I can't say I shed a tear when I saw the news of his murder. Anyway, I was somewhat resigned to the whole idea, but then my brother, the perfectionist, appears back from his fancy school. He always received the most affection, and I was always the one getting in trouble. He went to a school for the "gifted". Me, I was lucky to get all C's. He would probably go to some extremely expensive university, use up all my parent's money, and I'd be left with nothing. And then came the icing on the cake! Look, I'm a mutant! Look what I can do, whoopeedeedoo! And my parents? They looked dumbstruck, unable to say anything…"we still love you Bobby". Yeah, if it had been me saying I was a mutant, they would have kicked my sorry butt out of the house immediately! But not Bobby, their perfect son, for him we have to try to help him. Great. Now my overachieving brother was also going to inherit the Earth with the rest of his friends. Great.

When I called the police, I wanted him to get in trouble for once in his life. I wanted him to feel like I felt: rejected. And then things got way out of control. And then he was gone.

I won't lie; my parents treated me 100 better after that. That part worked out great. But I still deeply resented him, along with all his mutant friends. I did not make a mystery of my feelings on the mutant matter, and suddenly I found myself being more popular at school. And I guess it grew from there…God, what an idiot I've been! Just an immature, desperate for attention little kid. And now I see that I'm way over my head. I see where my hatred for mutants would eventually lead, and I couldn't stand the idea. This guy, Graydon, he would not think twice about murdering children. Mutants or not, these were little kids! He wanted to exterminate every single one of them; he wanted to kill Bobby.

I tried to fight it, but I started to cry. Regardless of how shitty I treated him, Bobby was always willing to help me out. He could seemingly do no wrong. Maybe that's why I was so jealous of him all my life. But even with that jealousy, I could not escape from a simple fact: I missed my brother.

Hours later, I managed to compose myself. I had not heard a single sound for a long time. Perhaps they gave up, figured it was the wind, or a mouse…Opening the door slowly, I looked around the dark hallway. Nobody. Eventually I made it outside of the building. The street was deserted, with no signs of life. I stopped shaking long enough to grab my cell phone and dial.

"Westchester County, New York…Xavier School for students, or something…what do you mean it's not listed?...crap, fine."

As I put the phone in my pocket, I heard footsteps behind me.

"I can give you the number for that school if you want."

The man stepped out of the shadows. It was Graydon Creed.

"Umm…Mr. Creed, I was…"

"Shhh, we'll have a lot of time to talk inside."

From out of nowhere, a couple of men grabbed me and pushed me back inside the building.

They looked at my ID's. Some guy ran a gadget over my head and announced I was not a mutant. That seemed to interest Graydon even more.

"You were in our meeting, were you not?"

"Yes, sir."

"So what is your connection to the Xavier school, Mr. Drake? Why were you calling them?"

"I…I don't know what you are talking about. I had some car trouble and was trying to call a cab."

"Really?"

What followed was not very pleasant at all. One guy grabbed me from behind while the other took his sweet time beating me to a pulp…not something I want to dwell on. When I thought I could not take any more, they stopped.

"I'll ask again, Mr. Drake: what do you know about the Xavier school?"

I could only mutter incoherencies from out of my bloodied mouth.

"Are you a spy for them, perhaps? Do you know anybody in the school?"

I could tell Creed was trying to make sense of the whole situation. I was trying to come up with something to say, but I couldn't think straight.

"Were you perhaps snooping around earlier, after the meeting? I though I heard something, so we decided to hang around and see what came out of the building, which turns out to be a human…what did you hear, Mr. Drake? Were you calling to warn them? To warn somebody?...a friend, perhaps, or a relative?"

I knew that if I said something, they would hunt Bobby down. Maybe use him for information or something. And then they would kill him. I knew that for sure. And me? Well, they would probably kill me whether I talked or not.

"So still nothing to say, boy? Very well…"

And then it came again, blow after blow after blow, until the now and the present. I raise myself up again, I stand slowly, weakly, and I look into Creed's eyes.

"I'm not telling you shit, _creep_…"

Creed stares at me, hatred in his eyes.

"Have it your way."

How ironic. Here I am, a member of the University's Human League, trying to protect mutant lives and paying with my life for it. The blows come harder this time, and soon everything goes black…

* * *

"Is he dead?"

"I'm pretty sure he is, but I'm not a Doctor, boss."

"What should we do with the body, Mr. Creed?"

"Dump it in an alley down by the mutant slums. Make it look like he was attacked and killed by one of _them_."

* * *

The first time that the darkness cleared, it came back quickly. All I could think of was how I had to warn Bobby.

The next time, I find my brother sitting by my bed. With difficulty, I manage to tell him everything. I see his demeanor change into a Bobby that I've never seen before. He's focused, serious, and from all evidence, mad as hell. No, I lie. I have seen this side of him before. It happened a few weeks before Bobby left for Xavier's. The school's resident bully, Rocky Beasley, was giving me hell every day. Bobby found me crying in my room and made me tell him what the problem was. His expression then was like the one now. I don't know what he told Rocky or what he did to him, but Beasley never bothered me again. The memory brings a crooked smile to my beaten-up face.

"Ronny, I'm so sorry you had to go through this."

"It's not your fault, Bobby. It's my own damn fault. I was…Bobby, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything…I just..."

"It's ok, Ronny. It's ok. You need to get some rest. Mom and Dad should be back any moment. And I need to take care of some business."

Bobby stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Me and the X-men have a score to settle with Graydon Creed."

I looked at Bobby then and for the first time saw him as a man. I closed my eyes and smiled again. Look out, Creed. My brother is going to kick your ass.

_Next: Iceman Unleashed!_

_Thanks for the reviews!_


	3. Iceman

**Degrees**

_Based on X-men movies and comics universe_

_Disclaimer: Iceman and other X-men characters are owned and copyright of Marvel and 20th Century Fox. They are being used here for non-profit entertainment only._

_**Part Three: Iceman**_

Bobby Drake kept thinking the same thing over and over again: "How could we have underestimated Graydon Creed so much!". He was doing his best to drive and stay awake. He had barely slept after the long drive from the Mansion the night before.

Fifteen minutes earlier, his brother Ronny had told him the reason why he was fighting for his life in a hospital bed. It all came down to one name.

"Creed." Bobby thought, with a fire in his eyes.

Ronny had overheard Creed's plan to destroy the Mansion and all its inhabitants.

Although unknown to the public, Graydon Creed's name was known to the X-men. He was the reputed leader of the Friends of Humanity, a mysterious group with an anti-mutant agenda. Hank McCoy had informed them that the FoH were suspected of providing false information to media outlets, as well as issuing press releases and mass electronic mailings with anti-mutant tones. This ranged from supposed attacks on humans by mutants, to allegations of a violent team of extremely powerful mutants plotting against the Government. They even used their releases for "outing" well-known personalities as mutants (which in most cases turned out not to be). The FoH was known to condone attacks against mutants. They even went as far as suggesting that the tragic "mutant massacre" in New Orleans was planned by this violent team of powerful mutants in an effort to incriminate human militia groups. The FoH itself claimed to be a peaceful association; "the voice of the average homo-sapien" as they would call themselves. There was no evidence to suggest otherwise, but the X-men took steps to find out for sure.

Bobby had been trying to reach any of the X-men, but had been unsuccessful so far.

He tried another call, this time to Peter, but could not get an answer either.

"Damn!" he screamed "Where the hell is everybody!"

Unbeknownst to him, the X-men had their hands full at the moment. While Bobby had been driving to the hospital the night before, Graydon Creed had gone public. Appearing in a taped interview for a well-known television show, he revealed himself as the leader of the Friends of Humanity. He proceeded to present "evidence" that the danger to mankind posed by mutants did not disappear after the defeat of Magneto. In fact, according to him, the mysterious group of mutants that defeated Magneto at Alcatraz was not fighting Magneto for the sake of humanity. Instead, they had been locked in battle with Magneto because both groups wanted to achieve domination over humans. Several soldiers that were supposedly in Alcatraz indicated when interviewed that both groups had fought with no consideration of the humans in the base, and both had killed human soldiers. Creed again brought up allegations that these powerful mutants had already infiltrated the highest circles of American Government. He talked about mutants that could take the form of anyone else. A janitor for a National Security Government Building related a story about one time when he saw a man that looked exactly like him walk by. Creed also pointed to the fact that the UN ambassador was a mutant, one that was apparently sighted during the Alcatraz fight killing human soldiers. Creed alleged he had detailed evidence of all these accusations, that attempts on his life had already been made by these mutants, and that he prayed it was not too late to save humanity.

The X-men had been busy all day, communicating with the Government, providing assurances to countless bureaucrats that Creed's allegations were all outrageous lies. There had already been hate crimes against mutants following Creed's announcements, and the Government feared there would be more. They urged the X-men to go public too and take steps toward showing the public that their actions were all in good faith. Knowing that Bobby's brother was close to death, but not knowing the reason why, Storm had decided not to call Bobby back to the Mansion.

Already the events had touched the Mansion indirectly. The staff had received a call from the Guthrie family. Two of the Guthrie kids were mutants, Sam and Paige, and attended Xavier's. They had gone home to visit their family for a few days. The Guthries did not make a secret of their kid's mutant genes, and everybody in the community knew it, but left them alone. However, that apparently changed after Creed's announcements. A group of masked men entered the Guthrie home and kidnapped Sam and Paige.

The X-men had their hands full, trying to deal with the Government and coming up with a plan of action regarding the kidnapping. Their communication devices were turned off or forgotten somewhere in the basement.

The students that were still awake in the Mansion were all huddled in the Rec room watching the latest developments. Nobody was near the phone when, after not being able to contact any of the team members, Bobby had settled on calling the Mansion's main number.

"Hello? Anybody, please pick up!...This is Bobby Drake. Whoever gets this, please relay it to Ororo, Kitty or Peter… I've come across some new information about Creed that suggests he is a lot more dangerous than we imagined. He's planning to target the school. I'm worried for the safety of our agent, so I'm going to try to retrieve her. As soon as you get this, meet me at the agent's last known location…I hope she's okay…please hurry!."

Bobby hung up with fear in his heart. An agent had been selected to infiltrate the FoH and find information about the true intentions of the organization. The selected agent was the only qualified person available to the team that could pass as human, because now she was. Rogue.

He had been opposed to the idea vehemently. Rogue would have to go undercover, with no way to communicate back with him or the team. She had to gain their trust, and then find out anything that she could. At the time, there were no serious indications that Creed was anything more than an idiot with a loud mouth, but something in Bobby's heart warned him against the idea.

"I don't want you to do this. It might be dangerous". He remembers telling her.

"I want to do this, Bobby. I'm a trained X-man. Well, an X-woman, actually. I can do this. You guys risked your lives in Alcatraz and I was not even there. Maybe these kinds of assignments are how I'm supposed to help the team. Please, Bobby, you need to understand." She had pleaded.

In the end, it was no use; when Rogue decided to do something, no one had the slightest chance of making her change her mind. She was given a special device that she would periodically activate and transmit her current location to the X-men computers. Before leaving to visit Ronny in the hospital, Bobby had printed out her last known location. When he first realized that it was here, the same city he was headed to see Ronny, he felt it was a strange coincidence. That feeling had been replaced with dread. All Bobby could think about was Rogue. He prayed that she was ok. Her location device was being activated on a regular basis: he knew this for a fact because he personally checked it several times a day. Still, knowing now what Creed was really capable of, and knowing his girlfriend was probably in close contact with that monster, sent chills up his spine. He loved her with all his heart, and could not even fathom the thought of something happening to her.

Finally, Bobby arrived near the location indicated on his paper, a partially-secluded wooded area. It was already late into the night. He left the car in an inconspicuous place and proceeded cautiously on foot. He saw lights up ahead, and walked towards them.

* * *

Iceman crouched quietly behind a tree. He could see up ahead a two-story building in a forest clearing. Two men stood in front of what appeared to be the main entrance. There was no sign of Rogue.

The silence of the night was suddenly interrupted by the sound of an approaching helicopter. Iceman looked on as the helicopter landed in front of the main entrance, blocking his view. There seemed to be people getting out of the helicopter, but they were exiting from the side opposite his current position. After several minutes, the pilot signaled, and proceeded to take off. Iceman could see that there was now a larger group of people, a few of them with guns. However, he also noticed what appeared to be a boy, maybe 15 years old, standing between them. The boy turned towards Iceman's location, and a flashlight suddenly illuminated his face.

"It can't be…that looks like Sam Guthrie!" thought Iceman. "What is he doing here?"

The men with guns pointed at him clearly indicated that Sam was not there voluntarily.

"It looks like Sam has been kidnapped by Creed's men! Is he the only one, and is that why I could not get a hold of anybody at the Mansion? This situation keeps getting worse. I wish I knew what was going on…what should I do?"

It only took him a few seconds to resolve his dilemma. Ronny's experience convinced him that Creed was capable of anything, so in the end, it was simple. Sam's life was in danger. Rogue's life could be in danger too. There was no way to contact the other X-men. So, he was it.

"I have to use it all. All the things I've learned. I have to defeat these men quickly, then find Creed and take him down _hard_."

With a mere thought, he iced his body. He assessed the situation one more time, made an ice fist, and took off towards the building extremely fast in an ice slide.

He raised his hand toward the men with guns, and fired ice spikes towards them. They went down before they knew what hit him.

"What the hell?"

"We got a mutant! Look alive, idiots!"

Everything happened very quickly after that.

Iceman froze all the guns he could see.

"Run, Sam!" he yelled at the astonished boy. Sam kicked the man that was holding him, and using his mutant power, propelled himself towards the woods in a blast of energy. One guy started running after him, but Iceman quickly made an ice wall in front of him. The guy ran straight into it, and fell down on the floor in pain.

In the meantime, one man lunged at Iceman, taking him down. Iceman's wind was knocked out, but he quickly landed a double-handed blow on the attacker's back. He pushed the man aside, and iced the floor just as two other attackers were running towards him. The men lost their footing, one sliding straight into a tree trunk, and the other meeting Iceman's clothesline.

Just then, the main entrance door opened, and five more FoH members appeared. Behind them, Iceman saw his main target. Creed. A fire fueled by anger started burning inside Iceman.

Graydon Creed looked on with fury.

"He's only one teenager! Take him the hell down! Now!" he yelled

Guns came out, as Bobby quickly created an ice shield to protect him while running towards them.

"Creed!" he screamed, doing his best Wolverine impersonation.

A violent avalanche of ice pushed the other men aside like rag dolls, until only Graydon Creed was left standing.

Creed looked in horror as a figure made of ice wrapped an ice fist around his throat.

"…what do you want?..." he managed to say, while falling down on his knees. Iceman looked down on the defeated man.

"I want you to bleed." He said acidly.

Creed's eyes grew wide with fear, as Iceman punched him in the face.

He tried to crawl away on all fours.

"..like the animal that you are" thought Iceman.

He stood up, raising his arms in a plea for clemency.

"Wait! Why are you doing this? What have I done to you?"

"You've done enough. It ends now."

Creed's fearful eyes suddenly turned violent.

"No!" he screamed, lunging at the ice mutant. Iceman successfully evaded his punches, and landed a hard punch to his abdomen, followed by an uppercut.

Creed fell on one knee, blood oozing out of his mouth.

"Stop, you maniac!"

"Look who's talking. Besides, I'm only getting started."

Iceman kicked his chest, and he fell backwards.

"Get up!" Iceman screamed. Creed just stayed on the ground, so Iceman stood him up, grabbed him, and threw him against the building wall. Creed fell down on the ground again, his nose a bloody mess.

The young X-man stood over him and freezed him to the ground.

"Do it, you freak…" Creed was able to spit the words out, even while he felt the dizziness trying to take him over. "You'll prove me right…you're all killers…you want to kill us all…"

"Wrong, asshole." Iceman said, freezing his mouth shut. Creed was defeated. Although it would certainly feel good, beating him up any more would serve no real purpose. He had to look for Rogue, after all, and find Sam in the woods.

"Stop right there, freak!" he heard the voice behind him. Iceman turned around quickly, only to freeze in place.

"Paige!" he screamed. The younger Guthrie was being held at gunpoint by one of the FoH members.

"Professor Drake!" the frightened 13-year old girl yelled between tears.

"You move and I put a bullet in her brain!"

Iceman analyzed his options, only to realize he had none. He had no chance to be faster that a gun pointed right at her temple. And while Paige had the power to shed her skin into any material, it would not be fast enough either.

"Raise your hands and step to the side, now!"

He did as he was told. The other men started to recover, and they started chipping away the ice that held Creed to the ground.

"What do I do with him, boss?" the man holding Paige asked.

"…take him inside…I want to talk to him…" Creed responded weakly, his mouth finally freed from its icy gag.

Two of the men walked towards Iceman and blindfolded him. As darkness covered his eyes, he could only think one thing: "I'm sorry, Rogue. I'm sorry, Ronny. I tried."

_Next: Endgame_

_Reviews, please!_


	4. Endgame

Degrees

_Based on X-men movies and comics universe_

_Disclaimer: Iceman and other X-men characters are owned and copyright of Marvel and 20th Century Fox. They are being used here for non-profit entertainment only._

Part Four: Endgame

"Damn mutant", Graydon Creed thought as two FoH members helped him stand up.

"You okay, Mr. Creed?"

"Do I look okay?" Creed replied angrily. His face was bloodied, and his head felt like it was about to explode.

"I'm going to kill that freak." He said to himself, his words like poison coming out of a snake.

"I want this place secured. Take some men and do a perimeter check." He managed to say through the dizziness. "I don't want any more surprises, not when we are so close."

"We'll get on it."

"We have the Guthrie children secured, right?"

"Umm…the boy escaped during the fighting, when that ice kid appeared."

"And why aren't you looking for him?"

"Right away, sir."

The men that were still standing quickly assembled in teams and went out into the forest.

"I have to get my head straight." Thought Creed. "Use this to my advantage. If our information is correct, that mutant fits the power description of one of the X-men. I can only pray that's true. That would be an incredible coup. He'll tell me all I need to know, or else…And if he doesn't, we'll get what we can from the kids, or from Mystique… Now, what did that little girl call this guy…? Professor something…Drake, was it? Why does that name sound familiar?"

* * *

" I bet you were feeling pretty good about yourself back there, weren't you? Well, I guess us lowly humans have the upper hand on you now. And don't even think about making a move, or this nice little girl gets it."

Iceman sat on a chair, blindfolded, his hands tied behind his back. The only sounds in the room were the man's endless litany of harassing words, and Paige's periodic sobs. Suddenly, he felt a painful blow, as the gunman hit Iceman in the face with the back of his gun. The young X-man fell down on the floor, chair and all.

"When Creed gets here, he's gonna take his time with you. He's gonna mess you up good, kid."

He was not paying attention to the man's words, except to get clues. Facing death, he decided not to look back with regret. Instead, he looked for hope, a way to get out of this dilemma. If he was alone, it would be a different story. He did not know how much a bullet could harm him in ice form, but he would risk it if it meant a chance to escape. He needed to find Rogue, save the Guthries and God knows who else possibly being held here. But the gunman's voice came from the same direction as Paige's cries. Any attempt at escaping would most likely spell death for Paige, and _that_ was a risk he found himself unable to take. Besides, Creed would want to interrogate him, find out everything about the X-men and their school. Iceman could lie, give him false information, and occupy him just enough to give the other X-men a chance of getting here. That is, if one of the kids had not erased the phone messages by mistake, which had happened several times before. Iceman quickly threw out that last thought. No, the X-men would hear his message. All he had to do was try to buy some time, and act only if there was a way to do so without unduly risking innocent lives.

"What's going on?" a female voice said.

"What are you doing here? I don't think you are allowed to see this stuff yet."

"Well, if you didn't notice, we are kind of short on thugs right now. Creed just wanted me to check on the situation here."

"It's all under control."

"Okay. I'll go tell him."

After a few seconds of silence, Iceman heard a blunt sound, followed by a thud.

"Are you okay?" he heard the female voice again.

"Yeah…" Paige responded

The blindfold was suddenly removed and Iceman looked up at his savior.

"Rogue!" She was holding a metal piece of pipe in her hand.

"Hi. I'm sorry it took me so long to rescue you."

"I'm just happy you did!" Iceman responded while Rogue freed his arms.

Suddenly his face turned pale.

"Have you seen Sam?"

"Guthrie? No, is he here too?"  
"I told him to run away…Oh God, I hope they did not catch him…"

"My brother?" Paige said, fear stamped in her voice.

"Don't worry, we'll find him." Rogue reassured her. She looked at Iceman, her eyes pleading, as if silently telling him: "…right?".

"Yes, but first we have to come up with a plan to get out of here."

"Wait, we can't leave yet."

"Why?"

"I'll brief you on the way, and you can tell me what is going on too."

Iceman turned towards Paige.

"Paige, I need you to change your skin into the strongest, most resistant material that comes to your mind. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes". The girl said, shedding her outer skin for a layer of stone. "Done".

Meanwhile, Rogue had tied up and gagged the unconscious gunman.

"Follow me." Rogue said

"Where are we going?"

"Wait. We'll talk when we get there…there's FOH inside the building."

They walked quickly, as quietly as they could manage. Every time they heard voices, they hid. Finally, Rogue led them into an office room with a desk and a computer. Iceman locked the door while Rogue started up the computer.

"This is Creed's computer. I was finally able to get into it, and have managed to copy some of the files in it. Before we get out of here, I need to finish copying them."

Rogue put a CD in the computer and started to copy files into it.

"What's in them?" Iceman asked.

"Everything. Well, almost. Creed has been planning something big, something only his inner circle knows about…and those files have an additional password that I haven't figured out yet…I'm guessing Creed's big plan has something to do with why you and the Guthries are here?"

"Sort of. I don't know all the details either. All I know is that Creed is planning to destroy the school. I came here to find you, and kind of stumbled on the rest."

"How did you find out Creed's plan?"  
"My brother, but that's a long story."

"Your brother?" Rogue asked surprised. "…so, where are the rest of the X-men?"

Iceman lowered his voice so Paige could not hear.

"I could not get a hold of any of them, so I left a message in the answering machine."

"What? You're serious?"

"Afraid so. That's why we have to hurry up and get out of here. We don't know if we have backup, and it won't take them long to figure out I escaped."

"I understand, but these files will ensure that Creed is convicted for what he's done. He's a lot worse than what we initially thought."

"I know."

"You do? Did you know _he_ hired the people responsible for the New Orleans Mutant Massacre?"

"What? No, I didn't know."

"I'm sure you don't know _this_ either." Rogue showed Iceman a computer folder called 'Mutant Info'. "Creed has files on many mutants, including the X-men." She opened the folder, revealing a list of documents. "Look". She pointed to one in particular: 'Ice mutant-unknown'. She opened the document, which had excerpts of interviews from people at Alcatraz. The interviews revealed the presence of a mutant that could control ice, 'presumably a member of the X-men'. Under 'Name' it only said 'Unknown'.

"At least he doesn't know who you are." Rogue said

"Oh no…" Iceman shook his head, and looked at Paige.

"Oh…" Paige understood. "I called you by your name, didn't I?"

"It's ok, Paige. I called you by _your_ name too, remember? It was instinct, no time to think. Besides, Creed had almost passed out by then. Maybe he didn't hear it….It doesn't matter, because when we get this information to the authorities, he'll be imprisoned for a long time."

"There's more." Rogue interrupted. She pointed to another entry: 'Sabertooth'. Opening the document, she scrolled down to a scan of a newspaper. It talked about the death of a young woman named Minerva Walker. According to the article, the woman showed signs of having been killed by a wild beast.

"So Sabertooth killed that woman?"

"Apparently. And look at this." Rogue grabbed a photo from Creed's desk; a young woman smiling in a sunny day. She took the picture out of the frame and showed it to Iceman. Behind it, he read the words: "With all my love, Minerva".

"That's her then?"

"Yes, she was Creed's girlfriend. Now look at _this_."

In Sabretooth's document, Iceman read: "Name- Victor Creed".

"Creed? Are they related?"

"They were brothers, Bobby."

"Whoa. So Graydon Creed's brother, Sabertooth, killed Creed's girlfriend?"

"His brother, _a mutant,_ killed his girlfriend."

"That explains things then."

"But it doesn't justify anything."

"Of course not."

The words "his brother, a mutant…" still reverberated in Iceman's head. His thoughts went to Ronny, hoping he was still okay.

"Can we go already?" Paige said impatiently.

"Almost done…and…done." Rogue replied.

"Let's go, then." Iceman exclaimed.

At that exact instant, the door of Creed's office was kicked open.

"Duck!" was all Iceman could say before a barrage of bullets flew their way. He quickly created an ice wall between the gunmen and them. Iceman looked towards Rogue and Paige.

"We're okay." Rogue said. The three of them were on the floor behind Creed's desk. Visible cracks started to criss-cross the ice wall. Iceman tried to stop them as quickly as they formed, but had no idea how long he could keep doing it.

* * *

Graydon Creed stood behind the gunmen with a smile in his face. He knew the mutants were trapped. And he knew that the girl who had called herself Rose was helping them. All three of them would soon be captured and dealt with.

He looked on as the ice wall cracks got bigger, interconnecting with each other, until the wall crumbled loudly.

"Move in, carefully!" he ordered. The men walked into the office, machine guns in hand, towards the other side of the crumbled ice wall. Once they got there, they stopped.

"Sir? You better look at this"

Creed walked in angrily.

"What?" he asked. Creed looked behind his desk and saw only the floor.

"Where the hell are they?"

The men just shrugged their shoulders.

* * *

Just outside the building, Iceman thanked the person responsible for their sudden escape.

"Thanks, Kitty." He said

"You're welcome."

Kitty Pryde had phased into the office from the outside, and had phased the three of them out to safety.

"Are the others here too?" Rogue asked

"See for yourselves." Kitty replied.

Suddenly they noticed that a heavy fog covered the area. Shots were heard. Creed and his men exited the building, only to find visibility outside down to almost zero.

"They're here somewhere! Shoot them!" Creed commanded.

The gunmen started shooting into the mist blindly, while Creed yelled in a panic.

Lightning suddenly started falling from the sky. A figure dressed in black hovered above, somewhat hidden by the fog. Storm took out a gunman with a hit of lightning, and simply blew another one away. Some of the men panicked and started to run into the woods. Creed watched as two of them suddenly flew back out of the woods, landing hard only a few feet from him.

"What the hell?" Creed thought and bit his lip in anger. It was too soon, he thought. A few more days and he would have obtained those military guns with "cure" needles for ammunition. Without those, his followers were at the mercy of the X-men's mutant powers. But he still had one trick up his sleeve. He ran inside the building.

Meanwhile, snipers started shooting from inside the building towards Iceman, Shadowcat and Rogue.

"Stay behind me!" Iceman shouted at Rogue and Paige as he created an ice wall while Shadowcat went intangible.

"I'll be back" Shadowcat said, and ran into the building in intangible form.

Colossus walked out of the woods with one unconscious gunman in each arm.

"You guys ok?" he shouted towards Iceman and Rogue.

"Don't worry about us, we're fine." Rogue answered.

Colossus nodded and ran towards a group of gunmen. When they saw the big metal guy coming towards them, they concentrated their fire on him to no effect. The bullets just bounced off his metallic skin.

Just then, Creed walked out of the building with a large gun and aimed it at Colossus. A low humming sound was heard, and then Colossus's metal skin started to spark and glow.

"Aarggh!" the big Russian screamed as he felt his body become incredibly hot, as if it wanted to explode. He fell down on his knees as Creed kept the gun's blast squarely on him.

"Colossus!" Storm screamed. Creed smiled and turned the gun on her. Suddenly, she felt as if the cells just underneath her skin were heating up to the point of boiling. An excruciating pain traveled through her body as she fell down to the ground.

Iceman looked in shock, and turned towards Rogue.

"Rogue! I have to..."

"Go! We can take care of ourselves!" she said, grabbing Paige and heading for safety.

He turned into ice and shot ice towards Creed.

"Boss, watch out!" one of the FoH screamed. Creed turned just in time to see the cold blast coming, and jumped out of the way. He rolled on the ground and then turned the weapon on Iceman.

Iceman felt his whole ice body become incredibly hot. He grimaced in pain, as it seemed like he was literally going to melt.

"What the hell is this?"! he thought.

Creed allowed himself a small smile. He shouted to the FoH that were left.

"Go take care of the other two while they are still weak!"

The gun was a military prototype that he had paid a fortune to steal. It was a sophisticated microwave gun, which shot high-powered electromagnetic beams. He kept aiming it at Iceman, who fell on his knees.

A searing pain cursed through his body. He slowly stood up, screaming as he did so.

"Impossible!" Creed said. He'd never seen anyone be able to stand a direct hit for longer than a few seconds without passing out from the pain. The gun beams were able to penetrate the subject's skin and cause the water molecules to heat up, which resulted in excruciating pain. On someone made out of metal like Colossus, the effect was even greater. However, someone like Iceman, who could lower his internal body temperature, was another story. It was a painful struggle, but Iceman was able to keep lowering his body temperature to cancel out the effects of the gun. He slowly walked closer and closer to Creed.

With difficulty, Iceman willed his body onwards. Blocking out the pain, he created an ice projectile and aimed it at the microwave gun. It hit its target, as parts of the gun were broken off and the weapon was effectively neutralized.

Iceman let out a big sigh of relief as he felt the effects of it die down.

"No!" Creed shouted. The FoH, who had surrounded Colossus and Storm, turned to look. It was all the opening that the two X-men needed. Gathering themselves quickly, the two suddenly struck their enemies. Colossus threw some about like rag dolls, while Storm spun like a tornado and knocked a few more out.

Creed saw Iceman looking at him and cracking his knuckles. Throwing away the remains of the gun, Creed ran to his car, and stepped inside. Nervously, he tried to put the key in the ignition, but his trembling hands kept missing it. Finally it went in, and the car started up. He turned the lights on, and saw right in front of the car a large man, with skin that glistened in the headlights. Creed watched in panic as the man's hands landed on the hood of the car, rocking the whole vehicle and leaving a large dent in the front. The motor died. Colossus walked towards the driver's side door and proceeded to yank it out of the car.

"You going somewhere?" he said to Creed.

Colossus grabbed him by the arm and threw him out of the car. The remaining FoH started to shoot at Colossus. Creed used the distraction to run towards the woods.

However, he ran into an angry teenage boy.

"You Creed?" Sam Guthrie asked. Creed was going to say something, but Sam kicked him in the groin. Creed fell on the ground in pain, while Sam grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Where's my sister?" Sam asked.

"I'm here!" Paige shouted, as she ran towards Sam.

"Sis!"

He let go of Creed to embrace his sister. Iceman, Rogue and Colossus caught up with them.

"Shadowcat's still inside the building, taking care of any remaining FoH." Rogue said

"I'll go help her." Colossus replied, and headed towards the building. Storm landed next to Creed, and the other X-men joined her.

"It's over." She exclaimed.

By now, Creed had managed to stand up. He was surrounded by the X-men and most of his men were defeated.

"It's not over. I have followers. Even if I'm gone, they'll continue the fight." He said defiantly.

"And we'll be there to stop them." Iceman replied. Creed turned towards him.

"Really? We're not so different, you and me…Mr. Drake."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know now why you came here…the boy at the rally, I hardly remembered his name. He was your brother, wasn't him? You found out I killed your brother and you came to kill me for it."

"Your brother's dead?" Rogue asked Iceman, surprised. Iceman only nodded to her silently. Having Creed believe that Ronny was dead was a good thing, he thought. It would help ensure Ronny's safety.

"You see? That's all I ever wanted: vengeance for all the innocents that you and your people have killed."

"Wrong again, Creed. We are not the same at all. There's a difference between justice and vengeance. I came looking for justice. And with the information we got from your computer, I'm going to get it. There're going to expose you for what you are and lock you away…You, on the other hand, what did you get from your supposed quest for vengeance? Only a poisoned life full of hate. Face it, you've become the same type of monster that your brother was."

"How did you…no, no, NO! You motherf…"

"Shut up, Creed" Iceman said, as he once more closed Creed's mouth shut with a blast of ice. Creed had been silenced; the only question was for how long.


	5. Bobby

Degrees

_Based on X-men movies and comics universe_

_Disclaimer: Iceman and other X-men characters are owned and copyright of Marvel and 20th Century Fox. They are being used here for non-profit entertainment only._

Part Five: Bobby

"_Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds"._ –

Bob Marley, Redemption Song.

After we captured Creed, everything else was easy. The few remaining FOH were leaderless and overmatched. Piotr and Kitty rounded up the ones inside the building, while Storm and I searched the woods for any stragglers. Rogue stayed with the Guthries, keeping watch of a tied-up Creed. I wish I'd seen Creed's face when Rogue told him who she was really working for!

Soon afterwards, the authorities arrived. Storm briefed them on everything, and handed them all the evidence we collected. Even with that, it still took a call from Hank to vouch for us and convince them. After a couple of hours of back and forth, they finally took all the FOH members away in handcuffs. As they took Creed away, he looked at me in the eyes with red-hot loathing. I looked right back at him without flinching. And that was it.

After some first aid and a chance for everybody to get up to speed, I was itching to head back to the hospital. I explained to Rogue that Ronny was not dead, but he was in bad shape, and I needed to get back to him. She kissed me, and said she understood.

I packed my body with caffeine and headed back to the hospital. All the while, I could not get Graydon Creed out of my head. I knew the situation between Ronny and me was nothing like Creed and Sabertooth, but it made me wonder if I had been too quick to put all the blame on Ronny for what happened at our house. Sometimes I thought that Ronny was jealous of the way our parents treated me over him, even if it was usually because Ronny always found a way to get in trouble. Perhaps, as the big brother, I could have reached out more to him when we were growing up. Maybe if I had done that, he would not have freaked out when he learned I was a mutant. Or maybe he didn't freak out; maybe he felt betrayed. After I went to Xavier's, I didn't really make an effort to see what was up with him. Maybe I had too much on my mind, or maybe I didn't care enough. I don't know. We were never big on showing much friendliness or anything, so I never really knew if he cared either. Well, that question had been answered now. Ronny had been willing to give up his life before ratting me out to Creed and his goons. That made me very proud of him, and also realize how short life can be, and how easily you can lose it all. I was planning to be there for him now, as a brother, in the difficult physical recovery he would likely be facing.

I finally arrived at the hospital and headed up to Ronny's room. I opened the door, only to find an empty hospital bed.

I felt my heart sink in that instant, and my mouth got dry. I looked around the room for something, anything, not sure what, and there was nothing but silence. Turning towards the hallway, I sprinted to the nurse's station, only to run into my father.

"Whoa, slow down, Bobby."

"Dad? Where's Ronny? He's not…is he?" I could not even say the words.

"Heavens no! They just moved him out of Intensive Care."

"Oh, thank God. I was scared out of my mind…"

"Are you ok? You're hurt."

"This?" I said, pointing at the big bruise on my forehead. 'It's nothing. I'm fine. So, where's Ronny's room?"

"Hold on. I came to see if I left my cell phone down here. Can you come with me?"

"Okay."

We found Dad's cell phone under the chair.

"Why didn't you call me after they found Ronny?"

"What?"

"You guys didn't call me until Ronny finally came out of the coma days later and asked for me. If he had not come out of the coma, would you have called? Or were you going to call after the funeral?" Dad fidgeted with the cell phone.

"Can we talk for a minute, Bobby?"

"Sure." I said. We walked to a waiting area and sat down.

"Son, this whole mutant business scares me. The only time we've met mutants up close, our front yard turned into a battlefield. And when they found Ronny, he was in a part of town where a lot of mutants live. The police thought he had been attacked by mutants."

"But he wasn't."

"I know that now. Ronny told us. Still, him getting hurt like that was related to the mutant problem too."

"Dad, that was Graydon Creed, a madman, and _not_ a mutant."

"I know. I wish I could get my hands on him and make him pay for what he did to Ronny. But what I'm trying to say, Bobby, is that you appear to have chosen to tread in dangerous circles….You're one of those powerful mutants Creed was talking about, right?"

"I…" I didn't know what to say to that.

"I just saw the news, Bobby. Interviews with people at Alcatraz, descriptions of what went on. They talked about mutants with fire and ice powers. I assumed that was you and that friend you brought to the house."

"He's not my friend anymore." After I said it, I realized that I was not completely sure about that.

"But you _were_ there, weren't you?"

I was tired of lies.

"Yes, I was there. We fought Magneto and his brotherhood, and we stopped him from killing an innocent little kid, among other things."

"So the things Creed is saying are true?"

"No, Creed was a liar. Everything bad he said about us was made up. We fought alongside humans, against Magneto. We did not kill any humans, and we certainly do not want to take over the world. Creed wanted to stir up hatred of mutants by whatever means necessary. He was a diseased man bent on killing every single mutant on the planet."

"Was?"

"We captured him, Dad, and he's being held by the police. He's done some sinister things, and he's going to face justice for them."

"Did he do that to you?" Dad pointed at my forehead.

"His men did. At one point, they captured me, and would have killed me if my girlfriend had not helped me escape."

"This is crazy, Bobby. You're fighting wars, getting captured and almost killed? This is all too much. I don't know who you are anymore."

"I'm the same person I was before you learned I'm a mutant, Dad. I'm just fighting for what I believe in, that's all."

"That's just it, Bobby. All this fighting and danger, if that's what you want to do, then that's your decision. But I'm not going to let you drag my family into it too."  
"What do you mean? I'm not "dragging" anybody into anything."

"Maybe not consciously, Bobby. But these "villains", what's stopping them from learning who you are, and trying to get to you by hurting your family? What's stopping them from going after Ronny again?"

"Creed did not hurt Ronny because of me. Back then, he didn't know Ronny was my brother."

"Back then?...Are you saying he knows now?"

I could see where this was going, and I didn't like it.

"He does, but he also thinks that Ronny is dead. I made sure of that. Besides, he's going to spend the rest of his life in jail."

"But what if he doesn't? What if he escapes, and finds out you lied to him? Or maybe it's not Creed, but the next psycho in line, and they go after us, Bobby? Are you prepared to handle that?"

"I would never let anything happen to you guys. Creed learning my name was a fluke, an unfortunate set of coincidences. It won't happen again."

"Maybe not, Bobby. Buy maybe yes…and I'm not going to take that chance."

"What are you saying, Dad?"

"I'm saying that you made your choice, now I have to make the choice I think it's best for the rest of us. I think it's too dangerous for you to associate with us."

"_Associate_?"

"Don't make this harder than it is, Bobby. We are going to move to another town and start anew, and I think it's just too risky for you to be a part of our new lives."

"So just like that, huh?"

"We still love you, son. It's just…well, it just won't work."

"No, you just don't love me enough to even try."

"That's not fair Bobby."

I knew, in a way, he was right. It was not fair to force them to risk their lives for me, no matter how small the risk might be… I guess I was tired of hearing their "I love you"'s and still end up getting the short end of the stick.

"You're right. I've chosen what I want to do with my life, and I'm prepared to handle the consequences."

My dad just nodded. We were silent for a while. I finally broke the silence.

"Can I talk to Ronny before I leave?"

"Sure." He said. We went up to Ronny's room. Mom stood up as I walked in. Ronny was sleeping peacefully. I did not want to disturb him. He certainly needed the rest. I stood there, unsure of what to do next. I looked at my Mom, but she could not look at me in the eyes. I turned towards Dad.

"Can you tell Ronny when he wakes up that I wish him a good recovery? And tell him "thanks for everything"?"

"Of course."

"Tell him "I'm sorry" too."

"I will."

"Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad."

"Bobby…" I heard my Mom say.

"Good luck." Dad finished the sentence for her.

I nodded, turned around and walked away. I could hear Mom crying softly in the background, but I did not look back.

* * *

Life went back to normal then, or as normal as it got at the school. But still, we all worried about Creed. The trial promised to be extremely controversial. We were doing our part by providing as much information as we could to the Government. Hank went on the TV circuit again, explaining how a group of mutants (us) had banded together to oppose Magneto. He told people that the only reason we did that was because human authorities were unprepared to handle him, and that we were uniquely equipped to protect both human and mutant interests in situations that exceeded the capacity of normal law enforcement. Most interviews were positive, although a few were not, some accusing us of being vigilantes with only our own selfish interests in mind.

Human opinions about Creed appeared to be split too. While most believed the Government when they publicly presented the accusations against Creed, some people viewed him as a victim of mutant blackmail. Already indications of just how hard the trial would be were surfacing. There were questions about whether or not the electronic evidence we obtained against him would be admissible in court. The Government was also having trouble obtaining witnesses that could personally link Creed to criminal activity. So far, they were only charging him for assault and battery, criminal conspiracy and fraud. The evidence we found linking Creed to the mutant massacre a few months back was deemed "too circumstantial" by prosecutors. The danger of him getting a "slap in the wrist" was real.

Our fears were amplified when the judge granted bail to Creed. He would remain free while the trial was ongoing. I never considered that a possibility, and assumed he would be incarcerated during the trial proceedings. The idea made me sick. This man, who had almost killed my brother and knew who I was, would be out on the street. Even if it proved to be temporary, this was a major cause of concern. Thankfully, Creed thought my brother was dead, and my parents had moved to a different city (without giving me their new address). My family would not be in danger.

We were sitting in the TV room watching live coverage of the story. Rogue sat next to me, her hand on my leg. Piotr and Kitty were seated on the other sofa. Storm had left the day before for England, leaving us in charge. Apparently, Moira requested her presence for something important, but none of us knew what it was about.

The room suddenly got a little darker, and I realized Warren was standing behind us, his wings casting a shadow on the sofa.

"What's going on?" he asked. Warren had been invited by Storm to start practicing with us in the Danger room and did not see us as the "junior staff" but as part of the same team.

"Creed is being released on bail." Rogue responded  
"I still can't believe they're doing that." Warren replied.  
We all nodded in silent agreement.  
"So, what are we going to do?" he asked.  
We all looked at each other.  
"We should call Storm, see what she says." Kitty offered.  
Piotr looked at me, as if asking for my opinion on the matter.  
"We should do that, yes. But I don't think we should wait to take action." I said. "For example, I think it's pretty clear that we should raise the security level in the school, per protocol. No students can go outside the grounds without a member of the staff. We increase surveillance of the grounds. We warn the students to report any unusual activities."

"But we have to do it without creating a panic." Kitty interjected  
"Yes. We'll say these are just precautionary measures. I know this sounds like overreacting, but…"  
"We've been burned by Creed before. I don't think it's overreacting." Piotr suggested.  
" I agree." Rogue concurred.  
I turned towards Warren.  
"Creed is leading a public rally after he gets released. Maybe you can do some aerial surveillance, see where he heads to after the rally. Just be careful to stay at a safe distance." Warren's eyesight was as keen as a hawk's, and he could keep an eye on Creed from a safe altitude.

"Alright." he replied.  
"There he is." Rogue said suddenly.  
I turned to the TV again, and saw Creed leaving the police station. The cameras showed that a group of supporters were holding up signs outside the station. As he left the prison, he raised his hands in triumph.

"_They will never stop me!"_ he shouted to loud cheers.

I still could not believe that some people were actually supporting somebody like Creed. Then again, he had presented himself to the public as the victim of a conspiracy by influential mutants. Many people now saw through that ruse, but some did not.

Creed stopped to talk, and the TV reporters were there to transmit his words to the world.

"_I am not afraid, my friends. I am confident that the truth about these ridiculous accusations will come out during my trial, and I will emerge victorious. As I've said before, this group of powerful mutants will do anything to keep the truth from coming out. But they will fail at that! And tonight at our rally, I will reveal new information about this group, which calls itself the "X-men". I have already revealed that our "esteemed" UN ambassador is actually a member of this clandestine group. Tonight, I will reveal the name of another of these "X-men"! I will force these people out of the shadows and reveal their true intentions to the American people! Make no mistake about it, friends. We will prevail!" _

There was no doubt in my mind of who's name Creed was going to reveal. I was sure that Creed hated me with a passion after I brought up his relation to Sabertooth. I could feel everybody looking at me, so they must have been thinking the same thing. It took all my restraint not to start shooting ice spikes at the TV.

"God, I _really_ hate that guy!" Was all I managed to say.

I felt Marie's hand moving away, and only then did I notice that I was icing up. I breathed deep and iced down. The enormity of it all was overwhelming. In a few hours, the whole world would know that I, Bobby Drake, was one of the X-men. My biggest concern was not my own welfare, as I felt safe inside the Mansion. The real concern for me was my family. My Dad had turned his back on me trying to prevent something like this from happening. What would this mean for them? For a minute, I felt regret at not having killed Creed when I had a chance. But I had made the right choice, didn't I? X-men didn't kill unless it was absolutely necessary to save lives. Besides, Creed had to go through a public trial so he could be discredited as the lying warmonger that he was. But what price would I personally have to pay for that?

"We'll think of something, Bobby." I heard Marie say. I didn't know what to say back.

Suddenly, the TV cameras showed what appeared to be a small object, glowing with energy as it flew towards Creed. When it hit his face, a minor explosion occurred. Everybody screamed, frightened but mostly unharmed; except for Graydon Creed.

"_There has been an explosion! It appears to have injured Graydon Creed!"_ the TV reporter exclaimed loudly. The people fleeing were blocking the camera's view. Police were running every which way. Finally, the camera was able to focus on the area where Creed had been standing a few seconds ago. Police officers crowded together around something. A few officers moved out of the way long enough for the cameraman to focus on what remained of Graydon Creed. His still-smoking body was on the ground, lifeless.

"_The images we are seeing are live, ladies and gentlemen. From all indications, it appears that Graydon Creed has been killed by some sort of explosion!" _

We all stared at the TV, unable to believe what had just happened. Creed was dead.

He certainly deserved it. In fact, part of me wished I had been the one to kill him.

The TV station continued broadcasting live. _"There is no sign of the attacker. Police are combing the area as we speak. From what we saw, whatever it was, it did not look like a bullet. I'm sure speculations are already forming that this was some sort of mutant attack." _

The frantic voice of the TV reporter and the live noise of emergency sirens were the only sounds in the room for some time. Eventually, Warren broke the silence.

"So much for my surveillance." He said. Nervous chuckles were heard.

We discussed what had just happened and who could have done it. There were two possibilities: somebody who wanted to silence Creed or somebody with a personal vendetta. Unfortunately, the X-men fit the first category. We would have to get in contact with the police and provide assurances that we had nothing to do with this. It seemed more likely that this was personal, making it very hard to find out who did it. Regardless, we probably had to do just that, to clear our name.

"If the assassin turns out to be a mutant, people that believe in the FOH will only get more radical." Rogue said.

"And somehow end up blaming _us_." Kitty pointed out.

"Yeah, that's what makes people like Creed so dangerous. You can defeat someone like him with force, but unless you also win the battle for the minds, the end result is just more "Creeds" later on." Warren commented.

I cringed at the thought, but so far, that had been proven right. There was no doubt that Magneto was a big reason why somebody like Creed was able to garner so much support. And with Creed being assassinated like this before the courts could prove his guilt, there was a good chance that someone else would eventually replace him. It was enough to make it seem like an endless cycle of violence, spiraling down towards apocalypse. But I knew we could not lose hope. I knew that we needed to honor the Professor by being the ones, the only ones if necessary, to stand in the middle, fighting against the Magneto's, the Stryker's and the Creed's of the world. I looked at the four people around me and realized we were more than ready to stand up to that challenge.

"Well," I said "If that's the case, we'll be there to stand against them."

_Next: A new beginning_


	6. A New Beginning

Degrees

_Based on X-men movies and comics universe_

_Disclaimer: Iceman and other X-men characters are owned and copyright of Marvel and 20th Century Fox. They are being used here for non-profit entertainment only._

Part Six: A New Beginning

I am Bobby Drake, the X-man known as Iceman, but right now I'm not doing anything heroic. I am on a stakeout outside my parent's house. Some time after Creed's assassination, I received a short letter from my Mother. In it, she gave me the address of their new house, "just in case", as she put it. She did not invite me to visit, and it was clear that Dad's "ban on associating with Bobby" was still in effect. Nevertheless, I had decided that with Creed gone and the FOH elite behind bars, it was safe enough to pay Ronny a visit. I felt bad that I was not there for him during his recovery (which according to Mom's letter had been hard, but faster than expected).

I sit in my car and watch as Ronny exits the house with a basketball in hand. He walks a little slower than before. Most of the bruises and swelling are gone. He heads to a basketball court a few streets down. I follow him from a distance until he reaches the court. As I get out of the car and approach, he starts shooting some hoops.

"Mind if I play?" I say, and he turns around.

"Bobby?" he asks, surprised. I take a good look at him. He looks thinner, and older.

"Hey, bro." I say, grabbing his shoulder. We hug for the first time in years.

"How did you know where we live?"

"Mom sent a letter."

"She said you could come by?"

"No, she just said it was for "in case of emergency" or something."

"So you're supposed to stay away, like Dad said, and still came?"

"Yep."

"You could get in trouble, you know. That doesn't sound like you."

"Maybe we have more in common than you think." I say as I snatch the ball away from his hands. I can see Ronny smirk.

"Thanks." He says simply.

"You don't have to thank me. I am the one that should be thanking you."

"For what?"

"Risking your life for me and for the school. You saved many lives, Ronny. I'm proud of you… I'm also so sorry it had to be you. I wish it'd been me."

"Nah, I think it was karma, you know? What I did to you was messed up, and maybe I was paying for it."

"Don't be silly. You didn't deserve what happened."

"Who knows? But let's talk about something else."

"Ok."

"How's the "X-men" business?"

"As good as can be expected."

"Always something going on, huh?"

"Oh, yes."

"And your identity is still a secret?"

"So far."

Ronny seems worried for a moment.

"Be careful out there, Bobby." He says without looking at me.

"Always."

We take turns shooting the ball and make small talk for a while. We talk about normal guy stuff: girls, cars, sports, the latest video games, etc.

"They're just scared, Bobby." Ronny says suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Mom and Dad. They're scared of the whole mutant thing, the violence and everything. But give them time. Once things settle down a bit, they'll come around."

"Well, I'm not holding my breath."

"Hey, _I_ came around."

"And it only took…" I start to say jokingly, without thinking. I stop myself, but it was too late.

"It only took me almost getting killed, yeah…."

"I didn't mean to say that, Ronny. I'm an asshole."

"And here I thought you were perfect!" he responds laughing. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, I did do some messed up things, and what I had in my head was worse."

"We all make mistakes. Like, I'm sorry that I've not been here to help you." I reply.

"You're here now."

"Yeah, I am."

"I'm going back to college next semester. I'm transferring to a different school in upstate New York. Maybe you can come by once in a while and visit. I won't tell Dad."

"I'd like that, but Dad's got a point. I took the chance of visiting you because Creed is gone, and the FOH is disbanded. But I don't know if I should take the chance too often. There are villains out there, some that would do anything to get at one of the X-men. I don't want to put you in danger."

"You're my brother! I'm not gonna let some idiots scare me away from seeing you. Besides, if you live afraid, life will pass you by, and be over before you know it."

"Whoa, that's deep."

"What, that doesn't sound like me? Maybe we have more in common than _you_ think."

I smile.

"Alright, bro. I'd love to come by and visit you from time to time."

"Cool. We'll hang out, do stuff."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I missed you, Bobby." He says seriously.

"I missed you too." I say back. We stand there in the awkward silence after you say something very personal to someone. Ronny finally breaks the ice.

"So, are we gonna play or what?"

"You sure you're up to it?" I ask, concerned that he's not ready for strenuous physical exercise.

"Please! I could kick your butt in basketball even if I was still in crutches."

"You never kicked my butt in basketball!"

"What? You totally suck at it!"

"Really? That's not how I remember it."

"Then I'll have to remind you, bro."

"Alright, let's see you back it up."

Ronny grabs the ball and smirks.

"Get ready to get your ass kicked, ice boy."

"That's Ice_man_, buddy."

"Whatever. I'm still gonna win."

I smile content, as my mind wanders. The funny thing about family is that it's the only relationship that all of us are forced upon, but it's also the only relationship that can never be truly broken. So, with family, it's what you make of it that matters. I don't know if it's too late for my brother and I to have a positive, lasting relationship, but I know we'll both give it a try. However, I don't need to worry about that right now. All I have to worry about right now is figuring a way to stop Ronny's jump shot…

THE END

_Thanks for all the past reviews._

_Please let me know what you think of the whole story! _

_This was certainly a lot of fun to write. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. _

_Javier_


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